Fretted musical instrument



Feb. 22 719276 F. W. ALTPETER FRETTED MUSICAL INSTRUMENT Filed Nov. 10,1923 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 [22 enar 192% Feb 22 F. w. ALTPETER FRETTEDMUSICAL INSTRUMENT Fild Nov. 10, 1923 2 Shoots-Sheet 2 "Ratented '22,1927.

PATENT OFFICE.

WALTER ALTPE'IER, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS.

FRETTED MUSICAL INSTRUMENT.

Application filed November 10, 1923. Serial No. 674,000.

This invention relates to musical instruments, and more particularly tostringed instruments of the lute type.

i Oneof the Objects of the-invention is the provision of anewjandimproved stringed l instrument in ;which provision is made wheieb theoperator may employ either of two di er nt conventional methods orcombine the two in picking or playing the instrument.

Another object of the invention is the provision of an" auxiliary necktogether with novel means for. attaching the same to either end-of theinstr'ument to' meet the requiremerits of the player or performer.

still further-object of the invention is the provision ofnew improvedmeans for utilizing" additional strings and so arrangin'gthe parts thatthey will not interfere with the' movements of the performerduringtheplayin of the instrument. Other andjfurther objects andadvantages of'theinvention will. appear from the fol- I lowingdescriptiontaken in connection with 25, the accompanying drawings, inwhich j Fig. l-isa'top planview of the instrument j howmg the auxiliaryneck in one position onthebody; V

c Fig. 2 is a section on line 22 of Fig. '30. "Fig. '3 is a section online 3-3 of Fig.

. with parts broken away;

Fig. his a .perspective view of the auxiliar rnecki;

5 is atop plan view of the instrument 1 showing {the auxiliary neck inanother position on the body; and v "Fig. 6 is a' section on line 6-6 ofFig. 5. It is understood that my invention may be embodied variouskindsof'stringed instruments, especially those of the'lute type,

siichas tll' maHdOliIL. guitar and the like,

but. for convenience of description and sim- ,pl icity of illustrationonly one embodiment of'the invention is disclosed.

I The invention is'shownin connection with 7 a guitar in which thereference character 10 designates'the body'of the instrument rna beprovided; with the usual 4 -sounding 'hole 11' in the face or soundingboard 12 thereof. .AS is usual in such constructiohs; one end of thebody, which for a convenience will be 'termed the upper end,

i than theother and'has' rigid ly attached thereto a neck 13 including ahead 14. The neck is provided with a finger board 15 having the usualfrets 16 thereon.

The head 14: is provided with tuning pegs 17 to which the upper ends ofthe principal set of strings 18 are attached, the lower ends of saidsprings passing over the bridge 19 and being attached to the tail piece20 secured to the lower end of the body 10, as is usual in suchconstructions.

There are two ways of arranging the strings on this type of instrumentwhich results in two methods of playing the same. In what is termed theold method the bass strings that is, the strings E, A and D, arearranged on what may be termed the right side of the finger board andare played by the thumb of the operator while the strings G, B and E,which for convenience will be termed the accompaniment strings, arearranged on the left side of the fingerboard and are played by thefingers of the operator. In what is termed the new method the bassstrings are on the left side and are played by the fingers while theaccompaniment strings are on the right side and are played by the thumbof the operator.

The lute type of stringed instrument has not heretofore been as popularas certain other types of'n'iusical instruments because of the lack ofvolume to the tone. Suitable means are provided for utilizing a set ofauxiliary oradditional strings without increasing. the width of thefingen' board. These addition strings are adapted to be arranged at theleft side of the finger board and sufficiently close to the otherstrings that may be played by the fingers of the operator withoutinconyenience. They are bass strings and are adapted to be played openand hence add materially. to the volume of sound. \Vhen the. auxiliarystrings are employed the remaining strings may be, and preferably are,played by a metallic pick on. the. thumb which also adds materially tothe loudness and carrying propertyyof the tone. S I v i Anysuitable-means may be employed for supporting these strings. Aprojection, which in the device shown is in the form of an auxiliaryneck 21 including a head 22 is employed for this purpose. The auxiliaryneck may be eithersids eithe main neck but is preferably arranged onwhat for convenience of description will be termed the left side i theinstrument. The head is provided with the usual tuning pegs 23 to whichthe set of auxiliary strings 24L are attached for tightening the same inthe usual manner. The lower ends of the strin 24: extend over a bridge25 and are attached to the tail piece 26 carried by the body 10. Inorder that the vibrating portions oi the strings of both sets may be ofthe same length and at the same time have the auxiliiu'y neck as shortas possible so not to interfere with the playing of the instrui'ncnt,the tail piece 26 is made very short. Any suitable number of strings 2tmay be employed, but four are usually sutiicient for most players. Thestrings usually employed are the bass Strings E, A, G and C. The bass Dstring of the main set being adjacent to the accompaniment strings mayusually be played by the thumb of the operator even while em ploying theso-called new method and may, therefore, if desired, be omitted from theauxiliary set. The auxiliary strings are arranged in proximity to theother strings whereby the operator may, by utilizing the same, employthe new method in his playing if he so desires, or he may employ the oldmethod by using only the strings carried by the main neck, or he maycombine both methods by using both sets of strings.

In order that both sets of strings may extend over the sounding hole andbe suiticiently close to each other to permit the hand of the operatorto extend over all of the strings for playing the same, and at thesametime the auxiliary and main necks be sufliciently spaced apart as not tointe 'iere with the fingering of the strings onthe main neck, theauxiliary neck may be arranged at an angle'thereto with the portions ofthe strings that are adapted to be picked adjacent to each other asclearly shown in Fig. 1.v The main neck 13 may also, if desired, thoughnot necessarily so, be arranged at an angle to the longitudinal axis ofthe body 01 the instrument whereby all the strings may properly extendover the sounding hole 11.

It is sometimes desirable that the auxiliary neck extend from the bodyin a direction opposite from the main neck, and for this purposesuitable means are provided for detachably connecting the auxiliary neck21 to the body 10. Any suitable ineans inay be employed for thispurposcso long as the means used does not interfere with the vibrationof the face or sounding board 12 of the body lOi ,As shown, theauxiliary neck is provided with a reduced angular extension 27 which isadapted to engage a corresponding aperture 28 or 29 in a block 80 or 31secured to the ends of the body within the same, the block 30 beingsecured to the upper end and the block 31 to the lower end of said body.The blocks are extended in wardly for the purpose oi aii'ording a longand firm attaclnncnt tor the reduced portion 27 and thwr inner ends arereduced so as not to contact with the upper or lower wall of the bodyand interfere with the vibrationsot the same. The tension of the stringsholds the reduced portion in the corresponding opening in the block withthe shoulder 32 firmly against the end of the body 10. The finger board39 extends beyond the shoulder 32 and is adapted to extend over the faceof the instrument. lit is provided with frets 8 L for tuning and for thepurpose of employing the cape taste when such is desired. v

The tail piece 26 is provided with an at taching extension that isadapted to extend over the opening 28 or 29 in the block 30 or 31 forconcealing the same. It is secured in position by means ot the screws 35which ext-end through the end of the body of the instrument and engagethe block 30 or 31 in the end thereof.

lVhen it is desired to change the auxiliary neck from the position shownin Fig. 1 to that shown in Fig. 5 the tuning pegs 23 are loosened, thescrews 35 removed and the neck withdrawn after which the extension isplaced in the opening 29 at the lower end of the body 10 and the tailpiece secured to the block 30 over the opening 28. The strings arepreferably removed and arranged in the same order as'in Fig. 1. Thisarrangement permits of materially increasing the number of strings onthe auxiliary neck without interfering with the movements of the lefthand of the operator in fingering the strings on the finger board of thepermanent neck.

It is thought from the foregoing taken in connection with theaccompanying drawings that the construction and operation of my devicewill be apparentto those skilled in the art, and that various changes insize, shape, proportion and details of construction may be made withoutdeparting from the spirit and scope of the appended claims.

I claim as my invention:

1. A musical instrument of the lute type comprising a body portion, aneck secured to one end thereof, a set of strings secured to said neckand extending over said body portion, an auxiliary neck secured to theopposite end of said body, a set of strings secured to said auxiliaryneck and extending over said body portion adjacent to said firstnamedset of strings whereby the strings of both sets may be playedsimultaneously by one hand of the operator, said necks extending inopposite directions.

2. An auxiliary neck for a stringed musical instrument, comprising aneck, a head integral therewith, a projection extending longitudinallyof said neck from the end thereof opposite said head and a fingerboardextending along said neck and beyond .the same in spaced relation tosaid extension. :3. In a stringed musical instrument, a body, a'mainneck secured to saidbody, a

block having an angular opening therein secured in eachend of said body,an auxiliary neck having an extension for engaging in either of saidopenmgs, and a tail piece adapted to besecured to either end of saidbody and adapted to extend over the corresponding openingfor concealingthe same.

4. A stringed musical instrument com- I1S1I10 a; bod OIlZlOIl a'necksecured there D V r 7 to, a set of strings comprising bass'andaccompaniment strings only, means for securing said strings to said neckand body 'ortion I aaro'ection secured to said bod i a portion at theopposite endfrom said neck,

an auxiliary set of strings comprising bass strings'only secured to saidprojection and 1 body portion and supported in proximity to principalset'of strings whereby the strings of both sets may be strucksimultaneously with the fingers of one hand, said accompaniment stringsbeing located between said last' and first-named bass strings.

5. In a stringed musical instrument of the class described, a bodyportion, a main neck secured to said body portion, a. principal set ofstrings secured to said main neck and body portion, said stringsextending across said body portion and comprising bass and accompanimentstrings only, an auxiliary set of strings, and means for supporting saidauxiliary set of strings across said body portion in proximity to saidprincipal set of strings whereby both sets of strings may be playedsimultaneously by one hand of the operator, all of said auxiliary set ofstrings being bass strings, said accompaniment strings being locatedbetween said bass strings on the main neck and said auxiliary set ofstrings.

FRANZ lVALTER ALTPETER.

